The left is jumping up and down screaming “Gotcha!” over a post at American Prospect by Adam Serwer that purports to debunk the New Black Panther voter intimidation story.

Serwer’s headline:  “When Was the Black Panther Case Downgraded” is an important part of the obfuscation that runs through the reaction to his post as left-leaning media types desperately try to make his “find” mean something that it doesn’t.

First, let’s watch the highest-profile regurgitation of Serwer’s storyline, Keith Olbermann:

Seems pretty cut and dried, right?  The charge that Obama’s Justice Department dismissed the case against the Panthers is patently false because it was actually the Bush DOJ that dismissed them.

Well, at least that’s what Olbermann and his poor, tortured producers and staff want you to think.

Remember I pointed out that Serwer’s headline is the beginning of the obfuscation?  Read it again:  “When Was the Black Panther Case Downgraded.”

Get it? (more…)

It’s the question no one from the press is asking.  Who is lying?

Over the weekend a video of Sen. John Kyl at a North Tempe town hall meeting shot through the internet like a bullet.  The video showed Sen. Kyl revealing to his constituents that President Obama was holding border security ransom for better bargaining position on comprehensive immigration reform.

The White House responded on Monday morning with a flat denial.  Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton said: “The President didn’t say that.  Sen. Kyl knows the President didn’t say that.”  That last phrase is inflammatory as it flatly claims that Sen. Kyl is deliberately lying about this issue.

Rather than let the matter die as a “he said, he said” story, bloggers scoured the internet for any other corroborating facts to bolster one position or the other.  Yesterday, Naked Emperor News uncovered audio from an interview Sen. Obama gave to local public radio in Chicago.  In it, he strikes the same juxtaposition of “trading-off” border security for comprehensive immigration reform, exactly as Sen. Kyl suggested: (more…)

Our friends, the really important and incredibly influential Senior Fellows at Media Matters for America, are projecting again.  And, as usual, they are misleading their readership, which largely consists of the interns at the Maddow, Schultz and Olbermann shows.

They have devoted months of coverage over the prospect of seeing James O’Keefe behind bars.  They misled their readers by claiming his statements regarding the events surrounding his arrest in New Orleans were “riddled with falsehoods,” even though now that the matter is concluded, the U.S. Attorney’s final report mirrors O’Keefe’s account to the letter.

It’s been said that Lenin first popularized the tactic: “Always accuse your opponents of what you, yourself are doing,” so it makes sense that Pravda-lite’s message today sounds eerily like what we wrote about them yesterday:

Andrew Breitbart and his band of bloggers remain quite distraught over their colleague James O’Keefe’s humiliating guilty plea in New Orleans yesterday. And yes, there continues to be lots of thrashing and lashing out over at Breitbart’s site.

Let’s remind our readers that: (more…)

Even in defeat, the hacks and non-entities at Media Matters — led by the embarrassingly humorless head hack, Eric Boehlert– just can’t write a story about James O’Keefe without letting their bias and contempt for him get in the way of the truth. But what else is new?

Just as in their original post on the affair in New Orleans: O’Keefe reportedly arrested by FBI in alleged “plot to wiretap” senator’s office, Media Matters and the rest of the left-wing media had been salivating over the prospect of seeing O’Keefe behind bars for a “wire-tapping” crime.  Of course, the facts of the case, publicly available from the moment Media Matters and their blood brothers at MSNBC began “reporting” the story, have never supported the fantasy that O’Keefe’s prank was some sort of Watergate style break-in or wiretapping, or bugging or anything resembling a serious felony.

But a perusal of the headlines at Media Matters gives us some great insight to how they’ve been desperate to make O’Keefe our generation’s Bernard Barker, and Breitbart his Richard Nixon.

Alleged wiretap plotter O’Keefe tweets “I am a journalist. The truth shall set me free”

TPM: Alleged phone bug crew came from conservative campus journalism world

FDL blogger: O’Keefe’s statement is riddled with falsehoods

Media Matters‘ Frisch: “What did Breitbart and Fox News know and when did they know it?”

In the three days following O’Keefe’s arrest, Media Matters posted no fewer than fifty-three separate articles about the arrest.  FIFTY-THREE! (more…)

James O’Keefe pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor today for his guerrilla-reporting stunt last January in the New Orleans offices of Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu.  The charge that he has admitted to, “entering federal property under false pretenses,” is a far cry from the phone-bugging and Watergate Jr. distortions first screamed by the MSM in high-octane hyperventilation mode when the story first broke in January.

MSNBC devoted the top slot in each of its prime time shows to the story and created a special “Watergate Jr.” graphic, and Ed Schultz, Rachel Maddow, Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann each took their turn at the James O’Keefe piñata, whacking away with full faith in the yummy morsels they expected to come tumbling out.

The big problem was that everything they “reported” to their viewers was based on pure conjecture and wishful thinking.  If they had spent ten minutes reading the initial report from the federal investigators they would have seen that there was never an allegation of wire-tapping or bugging.  But the facts, readily available to any journalist curious enough to find the truth, didn’t stand in their way of wall-to-wall “Watergate, Jr.” coverage. It was a typically disgraceful performance by the leftist American media.

(more…)

Media Matters and the Huffington Post have tried to expose a supposed conflict of interest for journalist Nina Easton’s coverage of the shameful tactics used by SEIU this past weekend as they stormed the home of a Bank of America executive.  In doing so, they uncritically repeated a complete and total lie spewed out by SEIU’s propaganda machine.

In yesterday’s post exposing the propaganda efforts from MMFA and HuffPo, where they carried water for SEIU blogger-goon John Vandeventer, we seem to have downplayed how completely and totally deceitful and misleading their “reporting” really was.

If you recall, SEIU thugs invaded a quiet suburban neighborhood on Sunday afternoon and protested on the lawn and private property of Bank of America executive Greg Baer.  Fortune magazine journalist Easton happened to be Baer’s neighbor and the ruckus was so obnoxious that it woke her two-year-old child from a nap.

She reported on the event in Fortune and noted that SEIU is currently in an effort to organize the bank tellers at B of A.  She also revealed that SEIU owes B of A millions of dollars and today, our own Liberty Chick fleshes that story out even more… $90 million more! (more…)

It looks like “reporter” Arthur Delaney has a new moonlighting gig as Assistant Communications Director for SEIU and he’s so tired he accidentally posted a PR piece for the beleaguered union at his day job at the Huffington Post.

As noted at Big Government today, a gang of SEIU intimidators stormed the front lawn of Bank of America Deputy General Counsel Greg Baer this past weekend in an attempt to bully him into changing B of A’s policies toward foreclosures, or so they claimed.

In Fortune Magazine, columnist Nina Easton reported on the protest and made note of the fact that SEIU is actively trying to organize the bank tellers at B of A — and by the way, SEIU owes the bank four million dollars.  But never mind all that, SEIU just cares about “the little guy.”

But, the main thrust of Easton’s article in Fortune is the fact that she happens to be Greg Baer’s neighbor.  The issue of hundreds of protesters bused in from various states to block traffic and scream through a bull horn on a peaceful suburban street on a Sunday afternoon transcends politics.  This is about common decency and co-existing in a civil society — qualities that elude the modern fascist left. (more…)

As media elites in their Sixth Avenue towers look down and tut-tut about those racist reactionaries in Arizona, the real people who have to deal with the real-world problems and ramifications of leftist open border political correctness are not backing down.

This weekend on Phoenix’ KFYI, radio host Terry Gilberg interviewed Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu.  The Sheriff’s message to Contessa, Katie and all the rest?  Come ride along side me in the patrol car.  You’ll see the real story.

During the interview, he conveyed a remarkable statistic:

Last month alone, just in one patrol region, we had sixty-four pursuits.  That means people who were driving a vehicle, failed to yield, took off like a bat out of hell, running red lights, creating traffic wrecks, numerous people were killed in these wrecks over the last several months, and who are these people?  Not one of them was a U.S. citizen.

(more…)

Reporting on politics, “The Chicago Way.”

The Illinois Senate race is shaping up to be a high-profile and influential campaign that will have national implications.  Not only because Illinois is the most populated state in the mid-west, but also because the seat up for grabs is President Obama’s former seat.  If Republican candidate Rep. Mark Kirk, were to win the seat it would be seen as an enormous PR loss for the White House.

The Democratic nominee, Alexi Giannoulias has been under fire because of the failiure of Broadway Bank and his direct connection to it.  Believe it or not, there are suspicions of corruption, incompetence  and graft with regard to a Democrat in Chicago.  Go figure! (more…)

We all know the story by now.  Rep. Andre Carson (D, Ind.) says that he and Rep. John Lewis (D, Ga.) were assaulted with racial slurs by Tea Party protesters as they walked down the step of the Cannon office building and headed to the Capitol on March 20.  McClatchy News reported that Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D, Mo.) also told reporters that he heard the ‘N-word’ as he was walking a few yards behind Rep. Lewis.  “It was like a chorus,” Cleaver said.

Only problem is: Cleaver wasn’t there.  He didn’t walk behind Lewis coming down the steps of Cannon on the way to the Capitol.  He walked behind Lewis coming up the steps of Cannon on the way back from the Capitol.

Of course, Cleaver and Carson could claim that racial slurs were screamed both times by the Tea Party protesters.  If that’s the case, then they have contradicted their own narrative from two weeks ago when the AP ran a story with the headline:

Wrong video of health protest spurs N-word feud

(more…)

What happens when a reporter asks a Democratic Congressman whether he is willing to enforce the border against the trafficking of illegal drugs? The congressman walks away disdainfully and calls the reporter a name, of course.

Rep. Raul Grijalva (D, Ariz.) participated in a grandstanding press conference called by Democratic politicians in Arizona to protest the new law, which allows law enforcement to ask for proof of legal status when they lawfully encounter a person and they have reasonable suspicion that the person might be in the country illegally. After the press conference, a reporter from CNSnews.com asks Rep. Grijalva:  “Are you committed to sealing the border against the influx of illegal drugs?”

It should be noted that Rep. Grijalva’s district includes 300 miles of the US/Mexican border. For Grijalva to ask “What does this have to do with our press conference today?” in relation to the reporter’s question about drug trafficking, we’re forced to wonder if Rep. Grijalva actually understands the law he is protesting.

According to a New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Judge, Bloggers are not considered journalists in the eyes of American jurisprudence.  In his decision, Judge Anthony J. Parrillo wrote:

There is, of necessity, a distinction between, on the one hand, personal diaries, opinions, impressions and expressive writing and, on the other hand, news reporting.

By this definition, Thomas Paine, Father of the American Revolution, was not practicing journalism when he printed Common Sense.

Thomas Paine, often held up as America’s first journalist, was really just a blogger using parchment and a printing press instead of a laptop and broadband connection.

Read Common Sense, the tract that is credited with inspiring the American Revolution: (more…)

Yesterday, we revealed yesterday’s examination of Rep. Andre Carson’s contemporaneous account that he gave reporters versus actual video footage of the events at the Cannon Office Building. The video showing the congressmen walking down the steps unencumbered by the hostile, racist mob that we had been told was there proved that Rep. Carson’s description was exaggerated at best, fabricated at worst.

We asked our readers for any other footage and testimonials they might have from that day in Washington DC. In the true spirit of citizen journalists holding our government accountable, we received many tips. The following compilation further exposes the myth that Rep. Carson passed on to the eager media that day.

In the past year, we’ve had plenty of opportunities (and reasons) to criticize Jon Stewart’s routine attacks on conservatives, talk radio, Fox News and other opponents of reflexive liberalism.

But not today.

Over the weekend we highlighted Charles Blow’s column in the New York Times about his infiltration of the Grand Prairie, Tex., Tea Party.  We questioned why he even bothered attending the event considering that he never interviewed anyone there and seemed to have reached his conclusions about the Tea Party after reading his own paper’s poll on them.

This morning, Laura Ingraham picked up where we left off and grilled Mr. Blow on her nationally syndicated radio program.  One of the reasons we love Laura is that she rarely lets guests get away with obfuscation or ducking a direct question.  This exchange is particularly enlightening:

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Laura:  What was the worst display of overt racism that you witnessed.

Charles:  I didn’t say I had witnessed any overt…

Laura:  You called it a minstrel show, Charles.  Those are kind of loaded terms, don’t you think?

Charles:  Did I say that I had witnessed any overt racism…

Laura:  What’s a minstrel show?

(more…)

When last we heard from CNN political analyst Roland Martin, he was giving heartfelt advice to members of the conservative commentary regarding suspicions surrounding the accusations of racial epithets that were allegedly heard by three members of the Congressional Black Caucus.  His advice last week:

I think it’s dumb on the Tea Party’s part to be focusing on this. I mean, if you are trying to create an actual movement, this is the last thing you want to continue talking about.  You want to be talking about policy. You want to getting folks involved. You don’t want to be constantly reminding people of the possibility that the “n” word was used because all you’re simply doing is having a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Mr. Martin seems to be following his own advice.

Today at CNN.com, Mr. Martin has an opinion piece about the Tea Party protests.  And although he carefully dances around the question of the inherent racism that Frank Rich, Janeane Garofalo and Keith Olbermann (among others) habitually see at these events, he makes no mention of the “N-Word” episode: (more…)

Charles Blow infiltrated a Tea Party event in Grand Prarie, Tex., on behalf of the New York Times.  But, apparently he wasn’t there to listen to the substance of the speakers’ speeches or to judge the content of the audience’s character, no, he was there because he is a black man and he was intent on doing a racial head count of the crowd:

I had specifically come to this rally because it was supposed to be especially diverse. And, on the stage at least, it was. The speakers included a black doctor who bashed Democrats for crying racism, a Hispanic immigrant who said that she had never received a single government entitlement and a Vietnamese immigrant who said that the Tea Party leader was God. It felt like a bizarre spoof of a 1980s Benetton ad.

The juxtaposition was striking: an abundance of diversity on the stage and a dearth of it in the crowd, with the exception of a few minorities like the young black man who carried a sign that read “Quit calling me a racist.”

According to Mr. Blow, the “visual Op-Ed columnist of the New York Times,” the sentiments expressed on stage by the scheduled speakers were insincere, born from a quasi-neurotic state of mind.  To hear him tell it, their mere inclusion in the program was a cynically veiled head fake from the organizers for past racial transgressions: (more…)

While the media did their best to expose the rampant stupidity and racism lurking in the ranks of the tea party protestors at tax day rallies last week, a couple of obstacles usually referred to as facts stood in their way.

It felt like “Casey at the Bat” as the behemoth slugger known as “MSM” strode confidently to the plate ready to knock one out of the park.

Strike 1:

The much celebrated and selectively quoted poll from CBS and the NY Times on the Tea Party revealed that people identified as members of the movement were actually smarter than average Americans.

So much for those “dumb conservative” narratives they had ready to roll.

Strike 2: (more…)

On Tuesday, AP reporter Jesse Washington ran a story on the Phantom ‘N-Word,’ accusing Andrew Breitbart and this site of misleading viewers by running a video of the March 20 protest at Capitol Hill that did not show anyone screaming a racial epithet at the Congressional Black Caucus, as had been widely reported.   And, Washington included a new eye-witness to the supposed hate-speech, Rep. Heath Shuler (D, N.C.):

A fourth Democrat, Rep. Heath Shuler of North Carolina, who is white, backed up his colleagues, telling the Hendersonville (N.C.) Times-News that he heard the slurs.

Yesterday, James Taranto at the Wall Street Journal actually did some reporting and called Rep. Shuler’s office.  He got a different story:

But when we phoned Shuler’s office this afternoon, press secretary Julie Fishman told us the local reporter misunderstood. According to Fishman, Shuler’s comments to the Times-News referred to the general tenor of the protests, not to the black congressmen’s specific allegations.  Fishman said that Shuler was not walking with Cleaver and did not hear the “N-word.”

(more…)

Last night on Anderson Cooper 360, there was a political panel discussion that focused on the growing doubts over whether racial epithets had, in fact, been hurled at members of the Congressional Black Caucus on the day of the Health Care vote in Washington, D.C.  The segment led with video of Andrew Breitbart repeating his offer of $100,000 to be donated to the United Negro College Fund if anyone provides video and audio proof of the alleged event.

The exchange that follows is notable for a handful of reasons.  First, the way Cooper frames the subject and introduces the discussion:

COOPER:  On March 20th, near the end of the bitter health care debate, Representative John Lewis, Andre Carson, Emanuel Cleaver say that some demonstrators, many of them Tea Party activists, yelled the “n” word as the Congressmen walked from House office building at the Capitol…

… Roland (Martin, CNN Political Analyst), what about that? I mean, if — if this happened, you would think there would be video by now. Does that — the fact that it is still being discussed. Is that a win for the Tea Party?

This is a new direction for CNN, which is desperately trying to reposition itself between Fox and MSNBC as the “objective” alternative, as well as other news outlets.  Until recently, the “N-word” slur has been reported as engraved-in-stone fact.  Now, the discussion is no longer about the alleged racism of the activists as much as it is about the validity of the charges. (more…)